Before watching the “Exterminating Angel” I figured the opera would be filled with people of this nature. Older Caucasians who brought binocular along with them to view a play much too far away. A group of people annoyed from the start with new attendees that didn’t quite understand what was about to ensue. As we walked into the very crowded theater and took our seats, I noticed the crowd. Around us were middle-aged and elderly people, all of whom were white. I spotted literally no people of color. There were quite murmurs filling the theater as we waited for the show to begin. And our fellow opera attendees, sat with their binoculars pressed up against their faces gazing down at the stage. Personally, I don’t understand the appeal. Not to a watching a show so far away. But all that aside waited patiently to see a show I figured would be uninteresting, difficult to understand and in no way relatable to my life.
I know we weren’t supposed to take photos during the opera but I thought this was a keep part of my experience that I hadn’t expected. I didn’t intend to be reading the entirety of the opera because it was in English. But it was not comprehensible. The singing was so drawn out I couldn’t understand anything any of the characters were saying. And at our distance, much f the time I couldn’t notice who was speaking because the spotlight wasn’t strong enough. I thought it as cluttered, and strange. And quite frankly uninteresting to me. In reading the essay it is obvious that Singh’s work is not only amazing and breathtaking, but it is inspired. I struggled to find his work as a representation of my opinions of the opera because my prejudices were justified and my photos were uninspired by the opera itself. I found myself, through most of the performance, reading not watching the extremely complex show. Not only could I not follow the dialogue but when I did look up, I was confused by green hand holographs, weird dancing insect-esque people, bears, and sheep. In summation, the opera was just not my thing.
